Professor to examine Haiti's sovereignty

April 06, 2011

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LEWISBURG, Pa. — Alex Dupuy, professor of sociology at Wesleyan University, will give the talk, "Class, Power, and Sovereignty: Haiti Before and After the Earthquake," on Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the Forum of the Elaine Langone Center at Bucknell University.

In his talk, Dupuy will examine the notion that Haiti lost sovereignty with the creation of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission following the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake.

"I will argue that the assumption that Haiti was sovereign prior to the earthquake was an illusion, because the dominant political and economic classes in Haiti long ago surrendered political autonomy and the formulation of economic policy to the foreign powers and international financial institutions involved in Haiti to enter into a partnership with foreign capital for their mutual benefit," said Dupuy.

Dupuy is an internationally recognized scholar and specialist on Haiti who has given interviews and commentaries on Haitian affairs on local, national and international radio and television networks, including the "News Hour" with Jim Lehrer, Toronto Public TV, National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio, the BBC, the CBC and the Australian Broadcasting Company.

He is the author of Haiti in the World Economy: Class, Race, and Underdevelopment Since 1700 (1987); Haiti in the New World Order: The Limits of the Democratic Revolution (1997); and The Prophet and Power: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the International Community, and Haiti (2007).

The talk, which is free and open to the public, is part of the University's series, "Resist, Reclaim, Recreate: Stories of Survival and Transformation in Haiti." It is supported by a generous donation to the international relations department from the Chuck and Gail Dombeck Family, with additional funding from the Griot Institute for Africana Studies, the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy.

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